Waking Up In Vegas
Chapter Seven
Catherine looked back and forth from her brother to... her brother's husband?... and back again.
"Wow..." she whispered. She didn't know what was harder to believe. That her brother had gotten drunk off his ass... that her brother had gotten so drunk he'd married someone he didn't know... that her brother got married *period*... that her brother was apparently gay... or that her brother's said husband was sitting on her couch right this moment.
"Ow..." she said, closing her eyes. "My head hurts."
"Yeah..." Quatre replied softly. "We're still a bit confused ourselves."
Cathy nodded, pleased the man could admit as much. She shook her head, trying to think.
"Wow... okay... I need to think on this. I..." she took a breath. "I'm going to take Maia out to the lake and see about catching some fish. Trowa... why don't you show Quatre the town? Grab some groceries at Richardson's."
Trowa sighed, but nodded, knowing that Cathy had some serious thinking to do if she *volunteered* to go fishing. "Okay," he said as his sister stood and walked out of the living room, muttering to herself.
"Will she be okay?" Quatre asked. Trowa shrugged in reply, standing up himself.
"It's hard to tell. Cathy is surprising like that. But I'd say it's more shock than anything."
Quatre chuckled.
"Yeah... I can see why she'd be shocked."
Cold eyes widened in shock.
"What do you mean he's in Tennessee?"
"He left for Tennessee with the man... Barton. Apparently, they weren't as malleable as you suspected, sir."
He growled.
"Damn. But it makes no matter. Winner still broke all ties with his son. Sandrock Industries will fall. And I *will* get my hands on that weapon. It's only a matter of time."
"Would you like for me to have someone stationed down there, to keep an eye on matters more closely?"
"No need. I already have someone there. And she is far more talented than anyone you could find..."
"Emily~!" Trowa called as he opened the door to the little store, allowing Quatre to in front of him.
"Trowa!" was the excited reply. Quatre saw the smile blossom across the girl's face. About nineteen years old, she was sitting on a stool behind the counter, a doujinshi open in front of her. "How was Vegas!"
Her voice had a distinctively British accent to it, her light golden brown hair hung down to just past her shoulders, and her hazel eyes glittered with youthful energy.
Trowa grinned at her. "Great, actually. You'll never believe it, Em, but I actually started to draw again."
The girl's painted pink lips formed an 'oh'. "You mean Duo was actually right?"
Trowa shook his head mirthfully. "Sort of. It's hard to explain. Anyway, I need to pick up some things. Cathy *and* Maia are here, too."
"And obviously someone new, too!" The girl smirked, leaning backwards a bit to get a better view of Quatre. She whistled, causing Quatre to blush. "And what a looker, too!"
"Emily... let me introduce Quatre... my boyfriend."
Hazel and Aqua eyes stared at Trowa at that statement. Quatre's mouth opened slightly. Had Trowa really just admitted that?
"Wow..." the girl stated, a little dumbfounded. "Well... that's surprising. I had no idea you were gay."
Trowa chuckled softly. "Neither did I, Em."
The girl shot him a confused look as Trowa took a basket and began to fill it with bread, milk, cereal and other staples that they were out of at the house. Quatre waited by the counter.
"Boyfriend, neh?" The girl cocked her head at him. "Damn," she sighed. "All the good guys are gay or taken. In my case... they're both!"
Quatre laughed. He liked this girl, and they managed to keep up a light banter between them while Trowa finished up his shopping. Apparently, she had decided to move here to Cool Water to live with her cousin while attending Vanderbilt.
"Bye, Emily!" he called as he and Trowa left the little store. He received a bright smile and a wave from the girl as she picked her graphic novel back up.
"Bye, Quatre!"
Relena crossed her arms over Heero's shoulders, peering at the computer screen as her breath ghosted across his right cheek.
"Have I ever told you how hot it is when you hack computers?"
"Hn," was the reply. Skilled fingers clicked away on the keyboard, the screen scanning through the lobby security video from right after the last time they'd seen Quatre that last night in Vegas. "See? There's Quatre leaving the Luxor with Barton."
"Yes. He's not even the slightest bit tipsy. And even with the day he'd had, it's not like him to drink heavily."
"Agreed." Heero repressed the shiver that threatened to course down his spine. Relena was his friend, nothing more. Her flirting was simply that... it meant nothing. She had no real interest in him.
Besides... she was the world's 'diplomatic darling'. Why would she want anything like *that* to do with him, a soldier who couldn't even do his job right.
"Wait... pause the playback."
He immediately complied. "Rewind," she ordered, baby blue eyes glued to the screen.
He reversed the video in slow motion. "Pause..." He stopped the video on a particular frame. Quatre was laughing, his hand resting lightly on Trowa's arm as they shared some anecdote or joke. "There," Relena said, reaching out and touching her fingernail to the screen. "That guy... he was in the casino, too. I remember. He kept staring at Quatre's new boyfriend. Staring intently."
"I recall him. Five-eight. Brown and brown."
"Gray slacks, white shirt," Relena agreed.
"Very non-descript, but he kept his eyes glued to Barton."
Relena nodded, finally leaning back.
"Looks like you have a lead, soldier."
Heero smirked.
"Are you making it a mission, 'princess'?"
Her laughter echoed through the room. "Maybe I am. What would you say to that?"
Heero stared at the blurry, vague figure in the corner of the screen, silently following the young couple, it seemed. No-one would dare hurt Quatre with Heero as his friend. Heero was determined to get to the bottom of this.
"Mission Accepted."
AN: This chapter is dedicated especially to Animechan123 for the most awesome video she created for this fic. Please check it out on YouTube under the title 'Waking Up In Vagas'. THANK YOU, girl!